The company had devised an online campaign that would provide one free pizza when consumers used the codeword ‘bailout’, even though the promotion had never received official approval from the company’s head office.
Once the promotion went active on Monday morning, word quickly spread across the internet and by the time it was deactivated on Tuesday morning (11am), 11,000 pizzas had already been given to customers for no charge.
“I started getting calls at about 10am from managers asking what was going on,” said John Glass, owner of 14 Domino’s stores in Greater Cincinnati. “I said I had no idea. I called corporate, they had no idea at the time. No one seemed to have any idea – everyone was scrambling. It all kind of snowballed.”
Domino’s promised to reimburse store owners for the cost of the promotion, according to reports. “We learned some things, like the power of viral marketing … and it drove thousands of people to our online ordering website that might not have otherwise gone there,” said Tim McIntyre of Domino’s.
Source: AFN/The Cincinnati Enquirer
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